Tottenham Hotspur defender Kyle Walker was forced to shut down his Twitter account after Spurs fans berated him over yesterday’s defeat to Chelsea, as reported by the Daily Mail.
@kyle28walker was bombarded with abusive tweets from his own fans after his mediocre performance in the London derby that saw rivals Chelsea come from 2-1 down to win 4-2 in the second half.
Walker was at fault for the final Chelsea goal in injury time and it seems that despite his full commitment to the club, some sections of online Spurs fans needed to vent their anger.
“Would love to know what I’m doing so different I give 100 per cent every game and still u (have) something to say I’m 22 and learning #embarrassing,” Walker wrote before deleting his account.
“If I said what I thought to these people I would get done humans make mistakes it was 90mins and I though(t it was) a foul end off (sic)!!!!”
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
It’s the subject that simply refuses to go away within English football at the moment and for Tottenham Hotspur winger Gareth Bale, he’d do well to pick up a couple of newspapers of late. In a series of weeks that have seen the issue of diving hop straight back up to the top of football’s agenda of malaise, you would have thought that the Welshman would have the nous to avoid a complete PR disaster.
Indeed, while the actions of Liverpool’s Luis Suarez has catalyzed a whole catalogue of fierce debate over the practice of simulation, Bale has played his own part in ensuring it continues to produce column inches. And a further contentious tumble on international duty against Scotland, has shot Bale straight into the spectrum of chief suspects.
But the issue for Bale isn’t one of personal integrity. It’s one that has the ability to cause both himself and his side some serious problems later along the line this season.
The issue of diving isn’t anything new on these shores. As with so many other issues in football, there is something very topical about the way it manages to creep up onto the footballing radar. As the fickle finger of the Premier League spins round on a never ending basis, talk about top flight thespians will usually subside and make way for the two-footed tackle debate or the flailing elbow argument.
But things feel different this time. For many people, Spurs fans included, there was a sense of poetic justice in seeing Luis Suarez get planted over by Norwich’s Leon Barnett for a stonewall penalty, only for referee Mike Jones to wave his claims away. The proverb “you reap what you sow”, has been wheeled out often in the past few weeks and in fairness, it certainly rings true to a certain extent.
But as the Suarez debate rumbles on, it seems to have reopened another and the school of thought that Premier League referees are beginning to judge the Uruguayan on reputation, rather than an incident on it’s own merits, is one that should cause equal cause for concern. And it’s one that Gareth Bale in particular, should give more than a moment’s thought to.
Fans of teams who have been on the receiving end of one of his tumbles (Villa and Arsenal supporters, take a stand), may be happy to dispute this, but Bale bestows a more polished public profile than Luis Suarez. A modest, humble talent, there are no bans for racial abuse or red cards for blatant hand ball on his resume. But if he continues to fall to the ground under little to no contact, that will all count for diddly squat.
Bale has already faced several allegations of diving and despite his claims to the contrary, his justifications for going down easily, hardly endear himself to a wider audience.
Following critique over his penalty winning dive in the 5-2 defeat against Arsenal last season, Bale responded that his art is more injury prevention, than diving:
“It’s annoying. You have people flying in at you, it’s not really diving, you’re trying to get out of the way of the challenge if anything,” the Welshman said last year.
“It’s a difficult one. You can see why people say you’re diving but at the end of the day I’d rather dive than get hurt.”
While Bale’s viewpoint maintains a certain amount of gravitas, it’s impossible to skirt round the viewpoint that he has more than a tendency to go down to easily. The wider debate surrounding simulation can be extended to very specific and technical instances and whether by launching himself over a full-back’s trailing leg at regular intervals is any better, is highly disputable.
But the stonewall acts of cheating are simply unforgivable and his fall in Spurs’ 2-0 victory over Aston Villas was totally unacceptable. The sight of watching Bale go down under thin air as he pre-empted a kick from Brad Guzan that never came, was really quite hard to watch. It gets worse every time you see it and if anyone was still to doubt the Welshman’s tendency to dabble in football’s darkest of arts, they can surely be in no doubt now.
Although, it’s not just his own morality that he’s damaging by going to ground like that. If Bale waltzes into the penalty area and is hacked down against Chelsea this weekend but the referee waves him away, then Spurs fans will be left with a Luis Suarez situation all of their own. Premier League referees must stay subjective, but does human nature dictate that when they see him go down, his fall against Villa will come into their head? It shouldn’t, but it could well do.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Even if referees are wrong to not judge each situation on their own merits, but Bale shouldn’t even be putting them in a position for that to become an issue. If he goes down in the penalty area against Roberto Di Matteo’s side on Saturday, you can bet your mortgage that his side will be screaming dive regardless of what happened. Bale’s behavior has only played into their hands.
Regardless of whether Shaun Maloney has claimed that his feeble contact with Gareth Bale constituted a penalty last week, it remains a woefully soft decision. And the problem is, with every ridiculous tumble the Welshman is taking, he is subjecting himself to forensic scrutiny in each incident.
Fans who frequent White Hart Lane love watching Gareth Bale for his barnstorming runs and his gifted ability – not for his acting skills. And when his behavior is set to put his side in jeopardy of getting a fair run, fans have the right to demand he cleans up his act. And fast.
What do you think about Gareth Bale’s antics for Spurs and Wales? Let me know what you think on Twitter: follow @samuel_antrobus and let me know if you think it’s time AVB sorted the Welshman out.
Arsene Wenger has pleaded to Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna to stay with the Gunners, despite the right back’s concerns over the club’s transfer policy.
The Mirror reports that Wenger will offer the right back a new contract despite the French International’s recent outburst.
In a recent interview with L’Equipe, Sagna admitted his frustration at the club’s failure to keep their best players and win trophies.
The Gunners defender’s contract runs until 2014 but Arsenal are keen to tie down one of their prised assets and end speculation of a potential exit from the club. Kieran Gibbs also only has two years left on his deal and will be offered a new contract.
Sales of Robin Van Persie and Samir Nasri became inevitable due to the club’s failure to place their star players on long contracts, it’s also unclear whether Theo Walcott will leave the club after contract talks have broke down with the England international. Putting the two full-backs on new long contracts is an attempt from the London club to avoid future high profile exits.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Achieving 100 caps or more for your country is a rarity and is something only most players can dream of.
In fact, some of them can only dream of gaining one cap. In a time where England is going through a difficult stage, the Three Lions can always look back and see the amount of quality players that have made 100 caps in the famous white shirt.
Ever since Billy Wright became the first player to achieve this incredible milestone, the likes of Steven Gerrard, David Beckham, Bobby Charlton and Bobby Moore have all gone on to become England centurions.
As the England squad prepare for their Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia – and the mouth-watering fixture against the ‘Auld Enemy’ in Scotland –one player that has arguably been the Three Lions’ best players over the past five years is set to earn his 100th cap.
Wayne Rooney has served the England national team with great distinction, and without him, English football would be in a much worse place. He is still only 29 years old, so reaching 100 caps is quite frankly astonishing, even by Rooney’s high standards. The question is, can he go on to surpass England’s record cap holder Peter Shilton?
We first saw what the Three Lions and Red Devils captain could produce in 2002, beating then England number one David Seaman with a sublime goal while in his Everton days. The forward was then the youngest ever player to make his full international debut at the tender age of 17.
However, Rooney’s debut was not quite a day to remember for England, as Sven Goran Erickson’s side lost 3-1 to Australia at Upton Park. You know it was a bad day when Darius Vassell, Wes Brown and Paul Konchesky all played a significant parts and England’s only goal came from the one and only Francis Jeffers.
Despite being one of the best strikers on the planet, Rooney has been regularly criticised for his international performances in major tournaments. In the summer’s group stage loss to Uruguay, Rooney notched his first World Cup goal.
For a striker of Rooney’s calibre, this is simply not good enough- but the stats don’t lie. It’s hard not to conclude that Rooney has underachieved at a competitive level for his country. Euro 2008 was probably his best tournament, especially in the game against Croatia where he was simply unplayable, but this isn’t the kind of peak we would have expected from Rooney when he made his debut all those years ago.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
Considering that Shilton played in between the sticks for his country 125 times, and there are around 10 games at international level a year outside of major tournaments, Rooney should easily outstrip his compatriot.
However, whether this makes the Manchester United striker an ‘England great’ is still up for debate.
Newcastle fans are mercilessly bashing Sunderland’s takeover, after it was announced the club was purchased for £40million.
Sunderland fans will all be breathing a massive sigh of relief now that Ellis Short is out of their club, but that isn’t stopping Newcastle fans from giving them some stick.
The Black Cats were relegated to League One in their first season in the Championship, just a year after belittling Newcastle for being promoted as champions of the division.
A consortium led by Stuart Donald has purchased the club, and the man himself reported the fee as just £40m.
Donald said: “We have given Ellis £40million. That’s the deal price. His debt, he’s now tied it up – and that’s now gone from the football club, and it’s not been ported to us. The reality is Sunderland is debt-free.
[ad_pod ]
“League One transfer fees aren’t too high – so the budget for Sunderland is going to be pretty hefty. It’s going to be a lot more than many of the other teams have got.”
While Sunderland’s size and budget could very well get them out of League One at the first attempt, that isn’t stopping Newcastle fans from enjoying the moment.
FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.
By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.
The Toon Army have been hilariously mocking the price of the takeover, most notably because it’s only 25 per cent more than the £30m Newcastle received for the sale of Moussa Sissoko.
Some of the best Twitter reactions can be found below…
On Saturday, one of the star performers at the World CupÂwas France star Kylian Mbappe.The attacker, who will cost Paris Saint-Germain more than £100m to sign permanently this summer following his initial loan move from Monaco, helped his nation reach the quarter-finals of the tournament in Russia.At just 19 years of age, Mbappe looked comfortable on the global stage as he scored twice in a thrilling 4-3 victory over Argentina in their last-16 clash.[ad_pod ]The attacker was always considered a sensational talent following his positive season for PSG in which he scored 21 goals and produced 16 assists in 45 appearances in all competitions.Now, his stock has risen even further, and it will continue to rise if he keeps performing at this level.[brid autoplay=”true” video=”256266″ player=”12034″ title=”Watch Three reasons we love to hate… Spain”]After witnessing Mbappe’s heroics, Liverpool fans made some cheeky suggestions on Twitter, urging the club to sign the PSG star.It is hugely unlikely that the forward will be heading to Anfield any time soon, but some supporters couldn’t help but wonder.
Chris Gayle, the captain of the Jamaica Tallawahs, has praised the contributions of Kumar Sangakkara and Andre Russell after the pair helped their side defeat Barbados Tridents by seven wickets
ESPNcricinfo staff24-Aug-2013
Andre Russell’s 6-ball 29 helped Jamaica book their place in Saturday’s final•Getty Images
Chris Gayle, the captain of the Jamaica Tallawahs, has praised the contributions of Kumar Sangakkara and Andre Russell after the pair put on 35 in 11 balls for fourth wicket to help defeat Barbados Tridents by seven wickets and book Jamaica’s place in Saturday’s final against the Guyana Amazon Warriors.Sangakkara, who signed for Jamaica last week, anchored the innings with an unbeaten 50, and added a crucial 71 for the second wicket with Chadwick Walton to set the tone for Russell’s late onslaught, and Gayle believed his experience was vital in seeing Jamaica through.”He made a big impact and we’re happy for that. We all know what a class and key player he is, having done it worldwide, and we’re pleased that he took us over the line,” Gayle said. “Being a [former] captain, he knows what the situation requires. Hopefully he can do it again tomorrow, so that we can finish with a high and can celebrate.”Gayle said that despite facing an increasing run-rate, Jamaica were always confident of chasing down Barbados’ 148 so long as they had big-hitters like Russell to come.”Once he [Russell] gets going, it’s going to be difficult to stop him. He’s a dangerous player and played a big part by finishing it for us.”It was just clean hitting, especially the last ball that he finished the match with. You don’t see this often, batsmen playing shots like in baseball. We’re very pleased and hopefully this will give us some momentum.”Despite the positive feedback from Gayle, Sangakkara, who joined Jamaica last week, was a little more critical of his own batting, and was relieved that Russell’s late blitz took the team home. “I could’ve got a few more singles, especially at the back-end when I was trying to hit the ball hard and was losing shape and not getting off strike,” Sangakkara said. “We could’ve got into trouble, but the way Russell hit the ball, particularly the Roger Federer serve at the end, was great.”Russell, who is Jamaica’s second-highest run-getter in the tournament so far, with 170 at a strike-rate of 191.01, said that he had always backed his ability to produce the big hits.”I was just batting with a clear head. I don’t know when something like this (a 6-ball 29) will happen again, but I knew that I had the potential for making these whirlwind scores,” he said. “Well done to the guys who set the tone and made my job a bit more comfortable, to just come in and play my natural game.”Looking ahead to Saturday’s final against Guyana, Gayle said that his team would have to be at their very best if they were to prevail against the tournament favourites. “They are the only team to beat us twice and have been playing good all-round cricket. They have the best bowling attack in the competition so it’s going to be tough. But if we bat properly, we have a good chance.”
Nenê desfalcou o São Paulo mais uma vez neste domingo, quando a equipe venceu o Ituano por 2 a 1 e abriu vantagem na classificação para as semifinais do Campeonato Paulista. O meia sofreu uma pancada no joelho esquerdo durante um treinamento e já desfalca o Tricolor há quatro jogos.
Para o jogo de volta das quartas-de-final contra o Ituano, o técnico interino Vagner Mancini espera contar com a presença de Nenê. Entretanto, sabe que depende de uma liberação do departamento médico.
RelacionadasSão PauloCrônicas do Morumbi: São Paulo jogou tudo o que não jogou no anoSão Paulo24/03/2019São PauloNova joia! Conheça Igor Gomes, herói do São Paulo contra o ItuanoSão Paulo24/03/2019São PauloVagner Mancini lamenta gol sofrido pelo São Paulo, mas elogia equipeSão Paulo24/03/2019
-Depende da liberação do departamento médico. Eu gostaria de contar com ele. É mais um jogador importante que pode ajudar, ainda mais em jogos decisivos. Você enfrenta o Ituano no domingo e depois na quarta-feira, é interessante ter algo diferente. Ainda não sei se o Nenê vai estar apto a jogar – afirmou Vagner Mancini em entrevista coletiva após vitória contra o Ituano.
São Paulo e Ituano voltam a se enfrentar na próxima quarta-feira, no Estádio Novelli Júnior, às 19h15. Um empate já é suficiente para o Tricolor avançar para a próxima fase do Campeonato Paulista.
O volante Thiaguinho está perto de ser comprado pelo Corinthians. O jovem de 21 anos tem contrato de empréstimo até 31 de maio, mas deve ter sua transferência definitiva selada antes disso. Pessoas ligadas à negociação acreditam em um desfecho positivo já nesta semana.
Embora o valor da compra esteja previsto em contrato, R$ 2 milhões, o Corinthians ainda tem detalhes a acertar com Nacional e Juventus, donos, respectivamente, de 75% e 25% dos direitos econômicos do jogador.
O avanço da negociação é tamanho que já se sabe o tempo de contrato do futuro vínculo com o Corinthians: quatro temporadas. O Timão pretende acertar a transferência ficando com 100% dos direitos econômicos do jovem.
Em 2019, Thiaguinho disputou apenas três partidas pelo Corinthians. No ano passado, o volante esteve em campo em 11 jogos. Ainda brigando por espaço no elenco, não está descartado um empréstimo após a compra.
continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasCorinthiansCarille explica entrada de Régis na vaga de Díaz na lista do CorinthiansCorinthians24/03/2019CorinthiansCom dores no quadril, Cássio é substituído e será avaliado no TimãoCorinthians24/03/2019CorinthiansMarcação pressão funciona, e Gustagol volta a brilhar no TimãoCorinthians24/03/2019